CONFIDENTIAL EH/DEC2016/CHE505

FACULTY OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, UiTM

TEST 2 CHE505 (REACTION ENGINEERING II)
1 HOUR & 30 MINUTES

NAME
STUDENT ID
GROUP

Instructions: This 2-page question paper consists of three (3) questions. Answer ALL
questions in the answer sheets.

QUESTION 1
(PO2, CO2, C5)

In the simplest enzymatic mechanism, the enzyme and substrate reversibly combine to form
an enzyme-substrate complex known as the Michaelis complex, which may irreversibly
decompose to form product and the regenerated enzyme. However, in certain cases, the
formed product can reversibly combine to form an enzyme-product complex which renders
the enzyme ineffective to catalyze its specific reaction.

(a) Propose the enzymatic reaction sequence that may well represent the overall reaction.
(5 marks)
(b) Develop a suitable rate expression for product formation using the quasi-steady-state
approach.
(10 marks)

Given:
Vmax = k3(ET), KM = k2+k3/k1, KI = k5/k4 and KP = KM/KI

QUESTION 2
(PO1, PO2, CO1, CO3, C2, C4, C5)

Beef catalase has been used to accelerate the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to yield
water and oxygen [Chem. Eng. Educ., 5, 141 (1971)]. The substrate has the following
mechanism:

2 H2O2 + Beef catalase → 2 H2O+ O2 + Beef catalase

where the Michaelis-Menten equation for the substrate decomposition is given as:

Vmax [ H 2 O2 ]
 rH 2O2 
K m  [ H 2 O2 ]

In order to determine the value of affinity constant, KM and maximum rate of reaction, Vmax,
the concentration of hydrogen peroxide is measured as a function of time for a reaction
mixture in a batch reactor at pH 6.76 maintained at 30 °C.

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CONFIDENTIAL EH/DEC2016/CHE505

Table 1 Experimental data for concentration of hydrogen peroxide

t (min) 0 10 20 50 100
[H2O2] (mol/L) 0.02 0.01775 0.0158 0.0106 0.005

(a) By using the data tabulated in the Table 1, determine the Michaelis-Menten parameters
Vmax and KM.
(16 marks)
(b) Discuss on how the values of Vmax and KM are affected if the uncompetitive inhibitor is
added inside the reactor. The Michaelis-Menten equation for the uncompetitive inhibitor
is given as:

Vmax [ H 2 O2 ]
 rH 2O2 
K m  [ H 2 O2 ](1  [ I ] / K I )
(4 marks)

QUESTION 3
(PO2, CO2, C3)

Aerobic degradation of an organic compound by a mixed culture of organisms in wastewater

can be represented by the following reaction.

C3H6O3 + aO2 + bNH3 → cC5H7NO2 + dH2O + eCO2

(a) Determine the stoichiometric coefficients if YX/S = 0.35 g X/g S.

(6 marks)
(b) From the obtained results in (a), calculate the yield coefficients YX/O2, YX/NH3 and
respiratory quotient (RQ) for the organisms.
(4 marks)

Additional information:
Molecular weight carbon, C = 12 g/mole
Molecular weight hydrogen, H = 1 g/mole
Molecular weight oxygen, O = 16 g/mole
Molecular weight nitrogen, N = 14 g/mole

END OF QUESTION PAPER

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